The present invention is directed to the drycleaning industry, where it is a requirement that clothing on hangers be grouped according to customer. Because of the high volume of garments, the cleaned clothes cannot each be segregated, but rather must all be placed in one or two hanging areas. This situation leads to the necessity of somehow being able to segregate the garments for each individual customer. The current method of grouping customers' orders is to simply tie them together with wire twist-ties. This method is cumbersome and time-consuming, and is not conducive to an efficient, high-volume operation.
An area in which some attention has been paid to the grouping of hangers is in travel or moving situations. There are several efforts in the prior art directed to holding hangers in fixed positions. While these devices are not specifically adapted to grouping items, they do all provide means to secure hangers.
One such prior art device is the "GARMENT BAG HANGER SUPPORT", by Myers et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,732,270. This device utilizes a hinged mechanism wherein a lower arm includes multiple notches to receive the hangers and hold them in place. The lower arm is clamped shut against an upper, fixed arm.
Another device aimed at fixing hangers in position is the "HOLDER TO POSITION CLOTHES HANGERS RELATIVE TO ONE ANOTHER" by De Beer, U.S. Pat. No. 5,076,447. This device is oriented horizontally to clamp on the neck of the hanger as opposed to the Myers device which clamps on the hook portion.
A third device is the "GARMENT-HANGER BAR" by Becker, U.S. Pat. No. 3,318,460. This device is adapted to fit into a corrugated cardboard garment moving box. The device includes end pieces which fit over the walls of the box, an upright member which receives the hooks of the hangers, and a lateral member that includes multiple depressions to receive the necks of the hangers.
All these devices, while presumably affective for their intended use, are not adaptable to the dry cleaning business. Because they are designed with supporting the hanger and the clothes thereon, the devices have a relatively expensive material demand for manufacturing. The construction of the prior art devices makes them impossible to adapt to the dry cleaning field because of the cost and bulk of the devices. Further, the dry cleaning field requires that various sizes of a hanger clip be easily available, and devices such as those in the prior art, which require relatively complex manufacturing, do not easily lend themselves to flexibility in size.